Drax has submitted an application for planning consent to build a new underground pumped storage hydro power station at Cruachan in Scotland – but it warned that it could not build it without government support.
Cruachan in Argyll already houses a pumped storage plant but at 600MW the new facility would more than double the site’s capacity, bringing it to 1.04GW. The plant would be housed within Ben Cruachan, where around 2Mt of rock will be excavated to create the cavern, tunnels and other parts of the power station.
Obtaining consent under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 from the Scottish Government is likely to take a year, Drax said and the new plant could be operational in 2030. But Drax said the project also requires “an updated policy and market support mechanism from the UK government”. It warned, “The existing lack of a framework for long-duration electricity storage and flexibility technologies means that private investment cannot currently be secured in new pumped storage hydro projects, with no new plants built anywhere in the UK since 1984 despite their critical role in decarbonisation.”